Dancing on Ice’s The Vivienne says she’s ‘proud’ to perform for kids amid hateful anti-drag attacks
The Vivienne has said she is ‘proud’ to perform for kids after Drag Queen Story Hour UK protests (Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images)
RuPaul’s Drag Race UK winner and Dancing on Ice competitor The Vivienne has said she is “proud” to perform for children after an anti-drag protesters clashed in London.
On Saturday (11 February) members of Patriotic Alternative, a white nationalist group, staged a protest outside a Drag Queen Story Hour UK event at the Tate Britain art gallery, which sees drag performers read to children in galleries, libraries, festivals and schools.
Outside the building, those opposing the event held up signs which read ‘Leave our kids alone!’ and ‘No drag for kids!’, while counter-protesters held signs saying ‘Don’t let the far right divide us’ and ‘Trans rights now’.
The Vivienne, while speaking to the Metro about her Dancing on Ice tenure thus far, also touched on what these protests mean to drag performers, and how they’re affecting the livelihood of so many queer individuals.
“A lot of my community in America are going through a horrendous time now, and it’s trickling into the UK,” The Vivienne explained.
“How does drag queens reading children a storybook translate into grooming? It’s because of crazy politicians that have their own agenda like: ‘Who can we put the blame on now? Let’s try the gays again.'”
She continued: “I do drag to have fun for myself, there’s no agenda. It’s all hidden motives and people pointing fingers. I think it’s absolutely insane.”
On Dancing on Ice, The Vivienne is paired with professional skater Colin Grafton. While the Welsh-via-way-of-Liverpudlian performer usually skates in drag on the show, her most recent skate saw her take a more vulnerable approach:
“It was one of my proudest skates, not my perfect skate, but it touched and resonated with a lot of people,” she explained.
“Everyone has a certain armour that they use in the world, whether that be make-up, perfume or a work uniform, wig. It was fab!”
The drag superstar, who won the first series of Drag Race UK in 2019 and is the first drag queen to ever compete on Dancing on Ice, said that it was her “proudest” moment to date. The routine received 33.5/40 from the judges – the pair’s highest score yet.
“I think this week proved that everybody, as humans, has something that we use as our armour, whether it be makeup, the way we dress, a perfume, something that makes us feel invincible,” she wrote on Instagram.
